Where to begin… where to begin… A little over ten years ago, director Steven Spielberg decided that the world was ready for a good cartoon or two. He was tired of seeing the crappily animated shows that were merely commercials in disguise. Bad scripts, bad animation, all of it was giving the world of animation a bad name. Remembering the Golden Age of the Warner's Brothers cartoons where the characters actually 'acted' through the animator's drawings and the scripts were written just as much for adults as it was for children, Spielberg began by introducing us to the world of the "Tiny Toons Adventures." This series was such a hit, that Spielberg knew he had found a need in the modern animated world and filled it. "Tiny Toons Adventures" delivered jokes in a fast and furious manner and threw in pop culture references from every era imaginable. No matter if you were 9 or 90, there were jokes in it for you.

Spielberg followed up this success with the "Animaniacs", which featured the characters Yakko, Wakko and Dot. They were introduced as cartoon characters so out of control that the Warner Brothers suits banished then to live in the infamous water tower on the studios lot.

But if anyone thought making them live in the water tower was going to rein them in, the Animaniacs were out to prove them wrong. Most of the episodes of the series were broken up into segments, each one a different story. Occasionally one story would run the full episode, but either way you were guaranteed a half hour of laughs, again no mater how old or young you were. The main characters were wackier than Bugs Bunny in his early days and there was no famous person (living or dead) and no celebrated story to illustrious to parody. There was even an episode that spoofed "Les Miserables", called "Les Miseranimals", music and all.

The series became popular for a number of reasons. First of all, it was just that darn funny. The animators took the time to carefully draw every frame, even the in-betweens, so that the action was smooth. The scriptwriters outdid themselves episode after episode making sure that every joke was in place, and peppering the series with all the cultural references that made "Tiny Toons" such a hit. Half the time it was fun to watch episodes over and over just to see if you could catch them all.

"Animaniacs" ended after a 99 episode run, but not before it gave birth to a spin-off of its own. "Pinky & the Brain" were two laboratory mice that were introduced in a couple of very short clips early in the series run. But they were so popular that a show of their own hit TV two years after the debut of "Animaniacs." The Brain was a super intelligent mouse who was a complete megalomaniac bent on taking over the world. Unfortunately he was saddled with Pinky, another lab mouse who had been a part of one two any experiments, leaving him a little too dumb to even be considered dumb.

Their series ran from 1995 to 1998 and are still amongst the most favorite of the characters to come out of the Spielberg animation camp. Even my father-in-law, the toughest ex-marine you ever met, loves the characters enough to still occasionally wear T-shirts emblazoned with their image. The series was every bit as fast and funny as "Tiny Toons" and "Animaniacs", and again hit constant home runs when it came to cultural references.

I used to have a lot of these episodes on video, but tossed them out in celebration of the release of the two 'Volume 1' sets each of "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain" a few months back. Now Warners is back with 'Volume 2' editions of both. ("Tiny Toons" is still mysteriously absent on DVD). The "Animaniacs" set offers up 25 more episodes (one more volume will follow if sales are good) while the "Pinky and the Brain" set has 22.

Warner Brothers was fairly sparse on the extra features, but what the sets do have are perfect. The "Animaniacs" set has a featurette with Maurice LaMarche leading a discussion of favorite episodes with a collection of the show's writers. LaMarche is extremely well-known in the world of voice over actors and is the talent behind a good portion of the characters in both series. The "Pinky & the Brain" set also has its own featurette in the form of a hysterical 29 minute sketch featuring Mark Hamill and Wayne Knight auditioning for the voiceover roles of Pinky & the Brain for a supposed feature film. Both of these featurettes are worth the price of the sets, at least for me. I love the work that these people do, and we rarely have the opportunity to see the voices behind the characters. I love the fact that we finally get to see these guys in front of the camera!

I cannot recommend both "Animaniacs: Volume 2" and "Pinky and the Brain: Volume 2" enough, (and still recommend the previous volumes as wel). Both animated shows are amongst the funniest that Warner Brothers have had to offer since the days of the old Termite Terrace gang.

ANIMANIACS: VOLUME 2
Episodes:
Testimonials / Babblin' Bijou / Potty Emergency / Sir Yaksalot
You Risk Your Life / I Got Yer Can / Jockey for Position
Moby or Not Moby / Mesozoic Mindy / The Good, The Boo and The Ugly
Draculee, Draculaa / Phranken-Runt
Hot, Bothered and Bedeviled / Moon Over Minerva / Skullhead Boneyhands
O Silly Mia / Puttin' On The Blitz / The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
Chairman of the Bored / Planets Song / Astro-Buttons
Cartoons in Wakko's Body / Noh's Lark / The Big Kiss / Hiccup
Clown and Out / Bubba Bo Bob Brain
Very Special Opening / In the Garden of Mindy / No Place Like Homeless/ Katie Ka-Boo / Baghdad Café
Critical Condition / The Three Muska-Warners
Dough Dough Boys / Boot Camping / General Boo-Regard
Spellbound
Smitten with Kittens / Alas, Poor Skullhead / White Gloves
Casablanca Opening / Fair Game / The Slapper / Puppet Rulers
Buttermilk, It Makes a Body Bitter / Broadcast Nuisance / Raging Bird
Animator's Alley / Can't Buy a Thrill / Hollywoodchuck
Survey Ladies / Of Nice and Men / What a Dump!
Useless Facts / The Senses Song / The World Can Wait / Kiki's Kitten
Mary Tyler Dot Song / Windsor Hassle / … and Justice For Slappy
Turkey Jerky / Wild Blue Yonder
Video Review / When Mice Ruled the Earth
Mobster Mash / Lake Titicaca / Icebreakers
Very Special Opening / A Christmas Plotz / Little Drummer Warners
Slippin' On the Ice Song / 'Twas the Day Before Christmas / Jungle Boo / The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert / Toy Shop Terror

Extras: The Writers Have Flipped, They Have No Script: Maurice LaMarche Leads a Writer's Discussion of Favorite Episodes
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 12/5/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

PINKY & THE BRAIN: VOLUME 2
Episodes:
Brain of the Future
Brinky
Hoop Schemes
Leave it to Beavers / Cinebrainia
Brain Noir
Pinky and the Brain… and Larry / Where the Deer and the Mouselopes Play
Brain's Bogie / Say What, Earth?
All You Need is Narf / Pinky's Plan
This Old Mouse
Brain Storm
A Meticulous Analysis of History / Funny, You Don’t Look Rhennish
The Pinky Protocol
Brain Drained
Mice Don’t Dance
Brain Acres
Pinky and the Brainmaker / Calvin Brain
Pinky Suavo / T.H.E.Y.
The Real Life
Brain's Way
A Pinky and the Brain Halloween
Brainy Jack

Extras: The Audition - Mark Hamill and Wayne Knight answer a casting call to do the voices of Pinky & the Brain for a future movie and get a coaching session from original voice actrors Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche.
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 12/5/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Animaniacs: Volume 2 and Pinky & The Brain: Volume 2 an A.